A South Cheshire College art student has donated a painting inspired by the Poppy Appeal to Crewe Royal British Legion (RBL).

The work by level three art and design BTec learner Leah Parker, aged 16, depicts a lone soldier walking through a field of poppies.

She donated £30 to this year’s Poppy Appeal along with the painting which will go on permanent display in the Crewe RBL headquarters.

Leah said: “I’m really please the people at the Royal British Legion liked my work and that I was able to give them a good start for this year’s Poppy Appeal.”

David Ballantyne, art and design lecturer, said: “Leah’s artwork really set the scene for this year’s fundraising. It is fantastic that her work is held in such high esteem by the Royal British Legion and her work will now take pride of place on display in the Crewe office.”
Picture Caption: South Cheshire College student Leah Parker

Inset Picture Caption: From left: Charlie Crouch, Poppy Appeal supporter, Stuart Kay, chairman of Crewe Royal British Legion, student Leah Parker, who donated the painting, and Paul Fox, local Poppy Appeal coordinator

Principal of West Nottinghamshire College Group Dame Asha Khemka has been awarded by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg for helping to improve FE links between Britain and India.

Dame Khemka was presented with the inaugural Dadabhai Naoroji Award for Education at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, in London.

It recognised her efforts to boost links between the British and Indian FE sectors through her role as chair of the Association of Colleges (AoC) in India.

She said: “I am hugely privileged to receive this award and immensely grateful for the recognition this brings to the work of the AoC in India.”

Presenting her award, Mr Clegg said Dame Khemka had “worked tirelessly to strengthen the bond between the UK and India”.

Mr Naoroji lived from 1825 to 1917 and was the first Asian to sit as a British MP between 1892 and 1895.

 

Picture Caption: From left: Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, Priti Patel, exchequer secretary to the Treasury and Britain’s India Diaspora champion, Sushma Swaraj, Indian Minister of External Affairs, and Dame Asha Khemka, principal of West Nottinghamshire College Group

Former New College Durham sport student Katie Bulmer-Cooke is hoping to be the “stealth bomber” on this year’s series of The Apprentice.

The 27-year-old fitness entrepreneur completed a two-year sport and exercise foundation degree at New College Durham seven years ago and returned to advise students about launching their own businesses last March.

She is a candidate on the new series of BBC show The Apprentice and hopes to impress Lord Sugar with her quiet but efficient approach to tasks.

She said: “In business, I’m like a little stealth bomber that flies under the radar and smashes the competition before they’ve realised I’m here.”

She added: “Studying the foundation degree definitely helped my career.

“I always knew I wanted to help people feel better about themselves.”

Katie specialises in personal training for mums who want to get their figures back after giving birth, through her business The Little Black Dress Club.

Peter Morrison, college head of sport, said: “We wish Katie all the best and are sure that Lord Sugar will be as impressed as we were with her knowledge and skills.”

Picture Caption: Katie Bulmer-Cooke a former New College Durham learner (courtesy of BBC)

A lecturer with no previous horticultural experience grew and harvested half a tonne of grapes on a previously neglected vineyard at Chichester College.

Associate lecturer in engineering Dave Nott took control of the vines at the college’s working farm at its Brinsbury campus, which had not been tended to or harvested for a number of years, in 2012.

He has since spent two hours a-day working alone on the vines and reading-up on the art of grape cultivation.

Mr Nott gave this year’s bumper crop to Highdown vineyard in Ferring, West Sussex, which will use the grapes to make wine.

He said: “I was startled to discover the forgotten vines during a tour of the farm.

“I managed to revitalise them through considerable pruning which resulted in a 50 per cent increase in grapes.”

Mr Nott, who has worked at the college for 15 years, now hopes to expand the one-acre plot and train students to help him grow even more grapes.

 

Picture Caption: Lecturer Dave Nott at the vineyard

Inset Caption: Pinot Noir grapes at the vineyard

 

 

Stoke on Trent College learner Marlena Luczak has been named Student Hairdresser of the Year at the 2014 British Hairdressing Awards.

The 28-year-old level two hairdressing student was one of thousands of learners from FE providers and commercial salons who entered the competition by submitting four photos of a hairstyle created on a model.

The judges were particularly impressed with Marlena’s “red carpet” hair style that involved pinning up long hair in to what she called an “elegant and classic” plaited bun.

She recreated the look on a model ahead of the presentation ceremony in London, organised by the Hairdressing Council and L’Oreal, where she collected her trophy and more than £100-worth of hair care products.

Marlena said: “I really was not expecting to win so it was a bit of a shock. Everyone has been so supportive and people I don’t even know have been coming up to me around college to congratulate me.”

Hairdressing lecturer Jason Davies said: “Marlena is amazingly talented.

“It is a first for the college and we are all so very proud.”

 

Picture Caption:

From left: Veronika Pantina, who modelled the winning hair style, with hairdressing student Marlena Luczak

Inset Caption: The award-winning hair style

 

Photography learners showed faith in a heavily tattooed college chaplain they used as a model for a series of striking pictures for their course portfolios.

Rob Popejoy, aged 30, who is an Anglican Christian, is a multi-faith chaplain at City of Bath College. Level three photography student Fen Petch-Eades, aged 17, recently took photos of his hands, which are covered in faith-inspired tattoos, for her course portfolio.

Family-friend Harriet Evans, 18, also took pictures of him for her level three photography course at City of Bristol College before graduating in July 2013.

He joked: “It’s great that people recognise I look different and think that I’d look good in photos, but I’m not about to give up my day-job and launch a modelling career.”

Fen said: “I’d noticed all of Rob’s tattoos and just thought his hands would make a really interesting photo.”

Harriet said: “I decided that I wanted a quirky person with tattoos to be photographed in a bow-tie. As Robbie’s personality is naturally relaxed in front of a camera the photographs just came out really well.”

 

Picture Caption: Rob Popejoy in a photo taken by photography student Harriet Evans.